Milwaukee Brewers 2023 Opening Day 26 Man Roster Predictions 3.0

Outfielders (4) - Christian Yelich, Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick, Brian Anderson

The curious case of the Brewers outfield. Christian Yelich will be in left field and Garrett Mitchell is likely to be the guy in centerfield, and then there's right field. Brian Anderson is going to see some time out there, but he'll also spend time in the infield. With Tyrone Taylor out, there's an outfield spot up for grabs.

The remaining candidates for that spot are a trio of non-roster invitees: veteran Tyler Naquin and prospects Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer. Craig Counsell said this past week that Wiemer is a legitimate candidate to make the roster. Wiemer is an ideal fit in right field and is likely the Brewers right fielder of the future, but is he ready just yet? I'm leaning towards no.

Wiemer's slugged two homers this spring but he's also hitting .229 with a .682 OPS. He hasn't been striking out too much but I think he'll need a little more seasoning and Sal Frelick is closer to ready, so I give Frelick the nod. The 2021 first round pick helped lead Team Italy to the quarterfinals of the WBC. He can give the Brewers a great presence atop the lineup.

Tyler Naquin hasn't impressed in spring training despite plenty of opportunities to do so. While there may have been a solid chance for him to make the club and allow the Brewers to give their outfield prospects more "development time" in Triple-A, he hasn't been forcing his way onto the team If the Brewers want to put their best 26 players on the roster, it'll be hard to justify putting Naquin on the team over any of the prospects at this point.

Designated Hitter (1) - Jesse Winker

Jesse Winker is technically an outfielder. But his defense is subpar and isn't better than any of the other outfielders in camp, he's coming off a season with injuries, and the Brewers have even said they expect him to mostly get reps at DH this year,

We could see him a little bit in left field when the Brewers want to get Yelich off his feet and put the former MVP at DH, but Winker will mostly be at DH this year.